Sunday, June 12, 2016

ENTER TITLE HERE

Enter Title Here

written by Rahul Kanakia

expected publication date August 2, 2016

Disney-Hyperion

I enjoyed this book so much that I read it in just two sittings. I work with highly competitive teens in a public library setting. I listen to them fret about their class rankings, tally their volunteer hours, and try to find ways to make themselves stand out among their peers. When I read the description of Enter Title Here, I knew I had to read it. Plus I read that the author pitched the book as Gossip Girl meets House of Cards. What's not to like there?Reshma Kapoor isn't your typical hyper-competitive high school senior. She'll do anything to be the best, and I do mean anything- cheat, manipulate, belittle, sue. For Reshma the finish line is early acceptance to Stanford. She's searching for her hook, which she describes as "the one accomplishment that sums up everything about you." According to Reshma, "An interesting hook is what makes that one special application rise up our of a stack of thousands of near-identical ones." Reshma's chance to shine comes when she is offered a book deal by a literary agent who read Reshma's op-ed in the Huffington Post. Reshma decides that the novel will trace the journey of a studious Indian girl (guess who) as she tries to become popular. She decides that to get material for her novel she will need to make a friend, go on a date, and go to parties. The problem is all of her classmates hate her and she ends up resorting to blackmail to get a friend. This is not a book where the main character gradually changes as she matures and learns about herself. No, Reshma is a horrible, horrible person that the reader shouldn't care about. But somehow Kanakia has created an anti-hero that you may not like but you keep turning the pages to see what she will do next to attain her goal.I received this book as an eARC from NetGalley in return for an honest review.